This is my first Yelp review. I feel compelled as a public service to share my experience with Happy Village Restaurant with the good people fo the internet. In early December 2018 my wife and I spent 10 days in Sooke, BC, for our honeymoon. Sooke (as I'm sure you've already found if you're reading this review) is a delightful little town, with a number of very good eating establishments. However, in my experience, Happy Village Restaurant is not one of them. My bar for Chinese takeout is not high, even greasy grocery store is usually still a passable meal. However, I'm not even completely certain the meal we received, partially ate, then consigned to the trash can (which itself had to be banished to the back porch to exorcize the rancid smell of the "food" from our cabin) was even food in the traditional sense of the word. The staff was pleasant, and prepared the order promptly, though I was concerned that at the height of the dinner rush, the restaurant was empty save for a single couple eating in the corner, perhaps most of their business was takeout, I told myself. As I drove the winding highway back to our cabin the car filled with the strong smell of rancid cooking oil, and my doubt began to grow. Arriving back at our AirBnB (a picturesque little cabin on the water a few miles north of town) we began to unpack the layers of styrofoam cartons, hoping for the best. First up was the Deep Fried Wontons (#2), which were blackened to the point of that they looked more like something that you would cook a hamburger over than something you were supposed to eat. One bite was enough to consign them directly into the bin. Next, the generous amount of rice provided did not compensate for the fact that half of it was congealed into a solid glob, perfectly molded to the shape of the pot it was prepared in. Next, the General Tso's Chicken (#30) looked edible but tasted like it had been boiled in seawater, both soggy and salty, slathered in a sauce that seemed to be comprised mostly of dollar store ketchup. The Szechuan Style Chicken (#36) was bland and almost entirely devoid of flavor, making it hands down the best dish we received from Happy Village Restaurant. Finally, sitting in a pool of oil and grease in the bottom of the bag, the last Styrofoam container revealed their Signature Chow Mien (#7), apparently the source of the rancid oil smell that had defiled our Toyota RAV4. The noodles were soaked in the aforementioned unidentifiable oil (based on the flavor I'm thinking possibly Motor?). It took days for the smell of our order from Happy Village Restaurant to clear from our seaside cabin. I honestly don't know how any business could serve food that was so unequivocally, almost comically bad. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I suppose it's possible this was just a really, really off day for them, or this was everyone in the kitchen's very first time preparing (or eating) food of any kind, or at some point an early 2000's Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out of my shower and tell me I've been Punk'd. Whatever the reason, I'd recommend you save yourself the money, the hassle, and the lingering odor and just order a pizza. Sooke has several options that are very edible. read more
